The story starts off as a standard 80s style slasher, however as the film progresses everything becomes much more outlandish and supernatural. Though it is a spoiler, it needs to be said that at one point the characters follow the killer into hell. I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the ridiculousness of it all since it was done in a very tongue in cheek way and it’s clear from the onset that this movie isn’t going to take itself seriously.
This is the big problem I had with the film as a whole however. In other parody films similar to this there’s always an overabundance of gore, which is to be expected. Father’s Day took things entirely too far however, and the extremely graphic scenes of torture, rape, and murder caused the tone of the film to feel uneven and inconsistent. At its core, this is supposed to be a spoof movie with stupid one liners and a lot of comedic elements, but the gore was simply too extreme to be considered funny. The filmmakers were certainly try to make the movie as tasteless as they could and they succeed, but watching a lunatic slice open his own penis just isn’t my cup of tea.
It’s also worth noting that this is a Troma release. I say this because although I’ve seen dozens of Troma films over the years, this is by far the highest quality of all the Troma releases. Of course, Lloyd Kauffman has a cameo as well, playing God and the Devil. If the upcoming Class of Nuke ’em High 4 is anything like this I’ll be a very happy camper.
If you’re into cheesy 80s horror you might get a kick out of Father’s Day, but if you don’t like campy piles of trash, then it’s best to steer clear of this one. Out of all the modern grindhouse flicks coming out as of late, I still believe Black Dynamite is by far the best, so if you’re looking to ease into these types of movies and haven’t checked that one out yet, see that before committing to the onslaught of Father’s Day.
I have a question about this review. Did you find the rape and violence particularly distasteful because it was happening to men? Also FYI Troma just ponyed up the money for Father’s Day, Astron-6 made the movie. What I’m trying to say is Class of Nuke ‘Em High 4 will probably be shit.
I find rape distasteful in any film regardless of the gender. What I didn’t like was the fact that there would be a moment of goofball comedy directly before or after a scene of grisly over the top violence. Maybe it would have been more effective if they took a more comedic approach to the violence rather than making it so awful to watch.
I know that Troma just distributed this and I’m sure that’s why it’s a higher quality release, just like Lollie Love.
Yes, I agree that Nuke ’em High 4 will probably be horrendous, but it would be cool if they made it like this and attempted to give it the look and feel of the original.
i feel like Father’s Day is so brilliant and smart and funny and well made that whether or not you enjoy the super uncomfortable rape and gore scenes is kind of beside the point. And moreover, I feel like those scenes make this movie that much more interesting. It’s like the greatest of Monty Python mixed with the ugliest horror movie gore. Either way, Father’s Day is the best modern film of this genre, period.
I think the credit goes to Adam Brooks for that- writing, directing and starring, plus he was hilarious as Ahab. I want to be clear that I did enjoy the movie and I’m curious to see what Astron-6 comes up with next.
I think you’re kind of missing the point, and you say as much in your review. I understand that perhaps you don’t like the overabundance of gore, and that whole penis slashing thing. I understand that you enjoy the humor and appreciate the satire. That’s where it all falls apart for me. You can’t spoof a Grindhouse film without driving over the cliff. The exact reason that it works better than any other satire is it knows exactly what it is. The music, as you said, is satire enough – which speaks volumes of their collective understanding of the genre. The humor evolves, which is perfect, actually. It lets the viewer get invested in the “homage to grindhouse” satirical intent, then eases them into the outright comedy of it all. The gore, in this context, is exactly as it should be – straddling that line of playing it straight like the movies it satires, and being over-the-top because it’s a satire. I know you enjoyed the film, so that in and of itself is cool, but I also feel compelled to point this out. Don’t slice up your dick or anything over this, but hopefully it’s food for thought.
Hey Dan, thanks for the comments and rest assured there won’t be any dick slicing on this end. I had a talk with Adam Brooks about this article and made sure to clarify that I did enjoy the movie quite a bit. Out of all the grindhouse homage films I chose this one for a reason and I can’t wait to see THE EDITOR.
Whew! Glad things are still intact. Yeah, after seeing Father’s Day, I checked out all of Astron-6’s other stuff. It’s great! “Cool Guy”, in particular is hilarious. If you haven’t already checked it out, you should. I don’t know anything about THE EDITOR, so thank you. I’ll check it out!